Leave More Grass, Make More Money

Graziers are quick to tear up pastures, plant the latest “wondergrass,” dump truckloads of fertilizer onto their paddocks or install irrigation in the name of boosting pasture productivity. But many overlook the one strategy they can implement to boost their productivity at little or no cost, says Jim Gerrish, an independent grazing lands consultant from

Rancher Tries Out New Grazing Strategy – for Sep. 9, 2010

When some ranchers get on in years, they get to be like a ball of rusty old barbed wire. Before even thinking about straightening them out – or talking about newfangled ideas in the cattle business – proceed with caution. But for Ron Batho, 74, who has been ranching near Oak Lake since 1952, trying


The Last Straw – for Aug. 5, 2010

Cattle producers whose pastures are flooded and forage producers whose stands are drowned may well be in need of assistance this year, just like producers of annual crops. However, there are good reasons why the province should be reluctant to comply with a request to waive Crown lease fees to ranchers whose grazing lands are

Can Cattle And Trees Get Along? – for Aug. 5, 2010

A10-year study just east of Duck Mountain Provincial Park is finding cattle and logging can coexist. “Timber harvesting and livestock grazing has always been seen as conflicting resource use,” said Bill Gardiner, a MAFRI rangelands specialist based in Dauphin, in a presentation on the 10-year Garland Project. When Louisiana-Pacific began harvesting hardwoods on leased Crown


Cattle Producers Call For Predator Bounties

“The populations have just gotten way out of hand.” – SHEILA MOWAT, MCPA Acall by Manitoba cattle producers for a province-wide bounty on wildlife predators looks like a non-starter with the NDP government. “We’re not about to introduce a general provincial removal program for coyotes and wolves,” said Barry Verbiwski, Manitoba Conservation’s head of problem

T – for Nov. 12, 2009

he behaviourist approach to ranching has won many converts in the United States. One of them, Ray Banister, used the philosophy to develop a new grazing strategy on his 7,200-acre Montana ranch, after 40 years of rotational grazing. Called “boom-bust” management, Banister uses intense periods of grazing followed by two growing seasons of rest. This


Wolves take big bite from bottom line

There are plenty of reasons to fear the big bad wolf. This past summer, producers in the Interlake have experienced heavy losses due to hungry wolves attacking their calves. In fact, Nick Halaburda has had so many losses in the last few years, he wrote to his MLA and to the minister of agriculture, food